What's good: If there was a single app in the iTunes store that truly exceeded our expectations, it would have to be Beat It! by Glu Mobile. Granted, there's always a high level of anticipation preceding game releases from this established company, but this one completely took our breath away. On starting the game, you are taken to your first city and introduced to the basic gameplay - every level gives you time to listen to a string of beats and your goal is to recreate them as quickly and accurately as you can on a sequencer. The music you make will evolve into more and more complicated tracks as various instruments are added to the mix - simultaneously increasing the richness of the experience and giving more dimension to the challenge. Of course, you have things to help you out when it gets too hard - the ability to mute a particular instrument, earn power-ups, and play back the entire loop. Meanwhile, controls are highly intuitive - simply tap squares on the grid to place notes, drag your finger across the tiles to fill spaces, and flick to move to another part of the screen for long sequences. Everything contributes to a learning curve that keeps things interesting and at the same time doesn't prove impossible to achieve. Combine that with insanely colorful pixelated graphics that extends and changes according to your progress through mesmerizing worlds with their own stunning visual and aural themes - well, it's not hard to see why this is one of the best apps of 2009! What with the established popularity of Tap Tap Revenge and Guitar Hero, clones (subtle or otherwise) have become quite a common sight in the AppStore, but this game makes for a truly refreshing change and sets a new standard for rhythm games to come.

Suggestions for improvement: We're hoping to see more levels added in future updates and maybe better sound optimization for the iPhone even without earphones.